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Tiburon Police | License plate readers

Tiburon posts its license plate reader policy on the town website and publishes a monthly internal audit of every search run against its database. The policy bars sharing the town's plate data with out-of-state or federal agencies, and for federal immigration enforcement. The Ark reported in 2026 that its own audit of those records documented 475 federal searches by nine California agencies, and that the police chief acknowledged the searches in a February 3 email.

At a glance

Posted usage and privacy policy
Policy 414, Automated License Plate Readers, posted as a standalone document on the town website (Lexipol stamp 2026-08-11) [1]
Sharing for federal immigration enforcement
Not permitted under Policy 414.2, which names ICE and CBP and cites the California Values Act [1]
Who the policy allows data to be shared with
Policy 414.7 allows sharing "only with other law enforcement agencies for official law enforcement purposes or as otherwise permitted by law," and states that "other law enforcement agencies do not include out-of-state or federal law enforcement agencies (Civil Code § 1798.90.5)" [1]
Retention
Thirty days. Policy 414.6 states that "All ALPR data downloaded to the server should be stored for thirty days and in accordance with the established records retention schedule." [1]
Retention the department reported to the State Auditor
Between 6 months and 1 year, for data not tied to an investigation (Report 2019-118 survey response) [2]
Vendor
Flock Safety. The town's plate reader program page states that "In July 2025, TPD transitioned its ALPR technology from the Vigilant system to the Flock system." [5] [2]
Cameras
Ten. The town's plate reader program page states that "The Town currently operates 10 Flock cameras around town." [5]
Search auditing
The department publishes a monthly plate reader internal audit tabulating each search run against its database [3]
Federal searches reported by The Ark
The Ark reported that its investigation "documented 475 federal searches by nine California agencies" [4]
Agencies with access, as reported by The Ark
The Ark reported that public records show the number "growing from 132 to 191 since July" [4]

How it happened

  1. Context

    The department's answers to the State Auditor's survey

    In its survey response for Report 2019-118 the department answered that it both operates plate reader cameras and accesses plate reader information, named Vigilant Solutions as its vendor, answered that it has a usage and privacy policy and posts it on its website, and gave a retention period of between six months and one year for data not tied to an investigation. [2]

  2. Deployment

    The department moves from Vigilant to Flock

    The town's plate reader program page states that "In July 2025, TPD transitioned its ALPR technology from the Vigilant system to the Flock system" and that "The Town currently operates 10 Flock cameras around town." [5]

  3. Debate

    The chief acknowledges federal searches, as The Ark reported

    The Ark reported that "Tiburon Police Chief Michelle Jean acknowledged in a Feb. 3 email that 23 agencies have conducted potentially illegal federal searches of the town's automated license-plate camera database, including for immigration enforcement." The chief called the searches an "unacceptable use of the town's license-plate reader data" and also stated that "the actions of the Tiburon Police Department and our authorized (automated license-plate reader) users are fully compliant." [4]

  4. Context

    Policy 414 in its current form

    The posted policy carries a Lexipol stamp of August 11, 2026. It states that the department "does not permit the sharing of ALPR data gathered by the Town for federal immigration enforcement" and requires the administrator to ensure the policy is "conspicuously posted on the department's website." [1]

What the policy says

Tiburon’s Policy 414, Automated License Plate Readers, carries a Lexipol stamp of August 11, 2026 and is posted as a standalone document on the town website. Policy 414.2 states that “The Tiburon Police Department does not permit the sharing of ALPR data gathered by the Town for federal immigration enforcement, pursuant to the California Values Act (Government Code §7282.5; Government Code § 7284.2 et seq). These federal immigration agencies include Immigrations and Customs (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).” Policy 414.4(g) makes the plate reader administrator responsible for “Ensuring this policy and related procedures are conspicuously posted on the department’s website.”[1]

Policy 414.6 sets the retention period. It states that “All ALPR data downloaded to the server should be stored for thirty days and in accordance with the established records retention schedule.” Policy 414.4(f) assigns the administrator the task of “Working with the Custodian of Records, or vendor, on the retention and destruction of ALPR data.”[1] In its survey response for the California State Auditor’s Report 2019-118, published in February 2020, the department named Vigilant Solutions as its vendor, answered that it posts its usage and privacy policy on its website, and gave a retention period of between six months and one year for data not tied to an investigation.[2]

Policy 414.7, Releasing ALPR Data, sets who may receive the data. It states that “The ALPR data may be shared only with other law enforcement agencies for official law enforcement purposes or as otherwise permitted by law. For purposes of this section, other law enforcement agencies do not include out-of-state or federal law enforcement agencies (Civil Code § 1798.90.5). ALPR data is subject to the provisions of the Tiburon Police Department’s Immigration Law Policy and hence may not be shared with federal immigration enforcement officials.”[1] This is the provision the reporting below turns on.

What the department publishes

The town’s plate reader program page states that “In July 2025, TPD transitioned its ALPR technology from the Vigilant system to the Flock system” and that “The Town currently operates 10 Flock cameras around town.” The page links what it calls “Tiburon’s Flock Transparency Portal for more information about Tiburon’s Flock system, including which agencies we share data with.”[5] Our tools could not read that portal on this pass.

The department also publishes a monthly internal audit of its plate reader database on the town website, alongside its transparency page.[6] The July 2026 file is headed “Town of Tiburon Police Department … Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) Internal Audit 7/1/2026 - 7/31/2026” and tabulates the searches run that month, one row each. The rows in the file we fetched are the department’s own searches, and each carries the searching officer, the network searched, a stated reason and a time. The plate and case number columns are empty in every row.[3] We do not republish the rows, because this site does not publish the names of individual officers. What we record is the practice: a search-level audit, published every month.

What The Ark reported

The Ark reported that “After three months of refusing comment, Tiburon Police Chief Michelle Jean acknowledged in a Feb. 3 email that 23 agencies have conducted potentially illegal federal searches of the town’s automated license-plate camera database, including for immigration enforcement,” following “an Ark investigation that documented 475 federal searches by nine California agencies.” The outlet described “The Ark’s audit of public records from May through August” and reported that the nine in-state agencies “conducted searches involving the U.S. Marshals Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and other federal entities.”[4] The year of that May through August window is not stated in the article text we hold.

Chief Jean called the searches an “unacceptable use of the town’s license-plate reader data,” acknowledging that California agencies “may have accessed the town’s data and potentially shared that data with federal immigration agencies.” She also stated that “the actions of the Tiburon Police Department and our authorized (automated license-plate reader) users are fully compliant.” The Ark further reported that “Tiburon redacted relevant fields for searches made by its own officers, preventing The Ark from auditing those public records,” and that “public records show Tiburon continued to expand the number of agencies with access to its database by 45% during its internal investigation, growing from 132 to 191 since July.”[4]

The article calls the searches potentially illegal. The chief states that her department and its authorized users are compliant. Both characterizations belong to the people who made them, and nobody on this project has read the underlying records.

What it does not establish

Policy 414.6 states a thirty-day period. Whether the deletion setting configured in the vendor system matches it is not in any record we fetched. The list of agencies with access, and the dates access was granted or revoked, is not in any record we fetched either; the vendor transparency portal the town links for that list could not be read by our tools on this pass. What the town redacts in the audit rows, and under what exemption, is not stated in the records we fetched. Records requests for the access list, the retention setting and the redacted fields are drafted.

Questions

Does Tiburon publish its license plate reader policy?
Yes. Policy 414 is posted as a standalone document on the town website, and 414.4(g) makes the plate reader administrator responsible for "Ensuring this policy and related procedures are conspicuously posted on the department's website." [1]
Can Tiburon's plate data be shared for immigration enforcement?
Policy 414.2 states that the department "does not permit the sharing of ALPR data gathered by the Town for federal immigration enforcement, pursuant to the California Values Act," and names Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. [1]
How long does Tiburon keep the data?
Policy 414.6 states that "All ALPR data downloaded to the server should be stored for thirty days and in accordance with the established records retention schedule." In its survey response for the State Auditor's Report 2019-118, published in February 2020, the department answered between six months and one year for data not tied to an investigation. [1] [2]
Who is Tiburon allowed to share the data with?
Policy 414.7 states that the data "may be shared only with other law enforcement agencies for official law enforcement purposes or as otherwise permitted by law," and that "For purposes of this section, other law enforcement agencies do not include out-of-state or federal law enforcement agencies (Civil Code § 1798.90.5)." It adds that the data "is subject to the provisions of the Tiburon Police Department's Immigration Law Policy and hence may not be shared with federal immigration enforcement officials." [1]
What vendor does Tiburon use, and how many cameras?
The town's plate reader program page states that "In July 2025, TPD transitioned its ALPR technology from the Vigilant system to the Flock system" and that "The Town currently operates 10 Flock cameras around town." [5]
Does the town audit searches of its database?
The department publishes a monthly internal audit that tabulates each search of its plate reader database. We cite that practice and do not republish the rows, which name the officer who ran each search. [3]

On the map

The community has mapped 117 devices of this type in the county on OpenStreetMap. These are community reports: the vendor and operator of each point are unverified, and none is confirmed to belong to this system. See them on the map →

Street names from reverse geocoding — © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

What we do not know

What you can do

Show up

Systems like this one are approved by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have not yet confirmed where each of them meets in Marin County.

What we have documented in Marin County →

Protect yourself

Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.

Surveillance Self-Defense →

Sources

  1. 1.
    Tiburon Police Department Policy 414, Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) (Lexipol stamp 2026-08-11) · Primary document · · accessed · archived copy
  2. 2.
    California State Auditor, Report 2019-118 survey response, Tiburon Police Department · Primary document · accessed · archived copy
  3. 3.
    Town of Tiburon Police Department, Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) Internal Audit, 7/1/2026 to 7/31/2026 · Primary document · accessed · archived copy
  4. 4.
    The Ark, "Ark investigation uncovers federal searches of Tiburon license-plate data" · News · accessed · archived copy
  5. 5.
    Town of Tiburon, Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) System program page · Primary document · accessed
  6. 6.
    Town of Tiburon, Transparency page · Primary document · accessed · archived copy

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